A winter rosebush has a thousand thorns,
its woody branches poke above the snow.
We'll wait for Spring before a rose adorns
a single stem - that's IF a bloom will grow.
The gardener is patient, for he knows
with care the barest bush will bloom again.
He guards it, blocks the frigid storm that blows
until in May, there's not one rose but ten.
I'm like the rose, with petals smelling fair,
displaying brilliant colour in the sun,
with hidden thorns which strike one unaware -
which strike myself the worst, and I'm undone.
Perhaps I'll grow one day to be a tree
still bearing roses, branches smooth, thorn-free.
In a list
A contest entry
- DESCRIBE YOURSELF IN Rhyme (spiritual poem) by Pisces rainbow.
1000 points, ended October 7, 2008, 11 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest - Shakespearean Sonnet Competition: "PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN" WORK ONLY. by Vera Rich.
490 points, ended June 15, 51 entries
Honorable mention
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
What do you think?
Comments
1 - 16 of 16
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How sweet to be considered as a rose
A fragile plant, with thorns which tear the skin
And in a sonnet form, which deftly shows
The skill which gives an honourable win.
I have some roses in my garden, here
In varied scents, and many a different hue
They've all survived to bloom another year
With little tending they have struggled through.
Another aspect of this gentle flower
It has a hidden strength which will survive
Through frosts and storms and winds of potent power
It keeps the sap within the stem alive
So Nature's power is stronger than we know
The rose still blooms, while generations go.
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I have heard the point about s/Spring before. I think it all depends where you take your entry-point into the English language. I am used to reading 17c texts where most if not all of the nouns are capitalised (rather like formal German). Many of our rules come from a well-intentioned (but some would argue stultifying) standardisation of the language in the 19c. Anyhow, I'm straining at a gnat here...
I like this sonnet very much. I like the way the volta takes us right to yourself, shifting into "I" language, and the resolution in the couplet is crystal clear. As near to a textbook sonnet as one will find!
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Lovely poem ...
and I agree, it does describe you to a "T".
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Thank you Jim.
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This is a very competently written sonnet - with a philosophical substrate that is very much in the Elizabethan manner.
Just one point - which you may think is altogether TOO pernickety: in my school-days (admittedly more than half-a-century ago!) we were taught that one should only capitalize the (calendar) seasons if one were personifying them (so that the names become "proper" nouns) but not when using their names as "common" nouns. According to this rule, "spring" in line 3 should be spelt with a small "s"... But as I said, this is perhaps altogether too pernickety! -
Nicely done, It's well observed, nicely detailed and well turned into a sonnet.
I like the hidden thorns. -
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Thank you Judy!
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out standing
Very beautiful background, and the poem.
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Thank you for your comment, Candy, and I'm grateful for the applause. I'm happy you like this sonnet.
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I read several entries in this contest ... and while my own verse is rather abstract if not to say "intangible", and most poets reveal their identification with all sorts of personality-structures and ego-roles, you have succeeded to both reveal the beauty of your inner essence as well as its metaphorical manifestation in the realms of materiality ...
a masterpiece ...
I would give it gold straight away ...
maa
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Thank you dear one.
I like this one too.
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My first impression is Wow--great poem! The imagery and the descriptive words are simply wonderful!
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Thank you Maggie!
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With typical objectivity ...
poetic skill and wit, you sketched the true soul of the very charming Dame la Rosa -- and I simply adored the poem! So, sweet Friend. I love you with roses and thorns, the latter I have experienced nothing of -- as yet!
Keep it that way! 
Ah. You truly are a timeless writer!
Love
Myra
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Always sweet Margarita Rose...
Dangerous beauty... It's good when one can know their thorny side as well as their gorgeous bloom. And for me, a true rose, by any name, will have its thorn...
Masterful work, dear friend.
Rahad
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but the roses is still beautiful thorns and all
beautifully written
God bless my friend...
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